


Kingmaker

by JikuDriverVoice_RiderCrime



Series: Ringing the Changes [1]
Category: Kamen Rider - All Media Types, Kamen Rider Zi-O
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-11
Updated: 2018-09-11
Packaged: 2019-07-11 01:08:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15961445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JikuDriverVoice_RiderCrime/pseuds/JikuDriverVoice_RiderCrime
Summary: He opens and closes his book, like the beating of a butterfly's wings.





	Kingmaker

The creation of Zi-O is a delicate act. Well, for Woz it is, anyway. No matter what, all signs point to Sougo becoming Zi-O and ruling over time. One could even go so far as to call it destiny. That's the easy part, and nothing short of an unmitigated disaster could even hope to steer Sougo away from that path. But the true creation of Zi-O - forming him into a wholly worthy, ideal ruler, is an inhumanly fine process.

Every time he meets Sougo - and Woz has met him many times, most of them kept in nobody's memory but his own - he has to pay careful attention to everything about himself. His choice of words, his tone of voice, the way he carries himself - everything will influence Sougo's growth into Oma Zi-O. Woz has long lost count of his trips back and forth through time, and yet he still has no precise grasp on what, exactly, to do to shape Zi-O as he likes. All he knows is that some unknown misstep can have him returning to a future - his present, but it's easier to call it the future - with a cold and cruel king.

He doesn't mind so much, really. It would be nice if his affections were properly returned, but there is satisfaction in being bluntly ordered around, too. Under a harsh enough ruler, a prophet can easily become a servant. It's not as if Oma Zi-O ignores him in these kinds of futures, though. Even as a servant, he is still valued. Just because Oma Zi-O does not love him in the same way, it doesn't mean he never touches him. No matter what, they are always close, and Woz has long developed a fondness for being manhandled.

But it's a future where Oma Zi-O is kind that Woz seeks to create. Or, rather, a future where Oma Zi-O is kind to _him_ , humanity be damned. It's his destiny to rule over them, after all. All other lives are meaningless sacrifices - meat for the grinder so that this future may be realized. In a future bleak to everyone else, there is nothing more satisfying than winning the heart of a tyrant. It's improper, but in these kinds of futures Woz can't control himself. He wants to be by his beloved king always. Left alone, the cold metal of Oma Zi-O's armor easily become a warm embrace, and Woz finds himself lamenting the existence of Zi-O's mask at all.

Even in these happy futures, there is still an itch to scratch, always something to tweak, and sooner or later Woz finds himself jumping back to the past again, hoping this time will be the time the future becomes truly perfect.

He will shape his king as he desires. He has time.

**Author's Note:**

> Watch this become canon noncompliant in two episodes!


End file.
